Gender-specific Export Shocks And Intra-household Resource Allocation

This paper studies whether and how export shocks affect intra-household allocation of resources.Focusing on China's export liberalization from 1990 to 2000,we construct gender-specific export shocks at the prefecture level and analyze the effects of these shocks on the household expenditure share of goods preferred by either gender.In line with theoretical predictions,we find that female-specific export shocks increase the expenditure share of female-favored goods,such as expenses on education and jewelry while male-specific export shocks decrease it.In contrast,the share of expenditure on male-favored goods,such as tobacco and alcohol,is not affected by gender-specific export shocks.Further analysis suggests that gender-specific export shocks shift the balance of bargaining power within households by increasing employment opportunities for women.